How Is A Letter Born?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If spiritual Kelim have the form of bestowal, then how can “evil forces” cling to them?

Answer: There can be no shape without Klipot (evil forces). How can a shape exist if there is no restriction? It is impossible to draw a figure if it is not limited by boundaries. It has to extend to a specific point and no further.

But who or what is restricting us? It’s our desire for pleasure. If I go a little over the edge, it’s considered “for the sake of self-gratification,” and that’s where I stop. However, at this point I am still capable of giving, so I keep looking for the “direction” and the form of bestowal. This is how the shapes of the letters are formed.

You start with a point: “I have a desire to bestow.” What next? You can move up a little bit to the right or left and by using limitations you draw a letter (a spiritual vessel,) a Kli in which two forces of the Light connect – the Lights of Hassadim and Hochma. Only two components exist: the desire for pleasure and the intention “for the sake of bestowal.” A Kli is made of the desire for pleasure, but there is a screen above it with Reflected Light – the force of bestowal. That is how a figure emerges from a point.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbaah Lesson 7/21/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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The Light Is Revealed From A Black Point

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Zohar, Chapter “Lech Lecha” (Go Forth), Items 158-159: Nefesh is a low awakening that clings to the body (Guf), like candlelight, whose bottom light is black, clings to the wick, …it becomes a throne to the white light atop it, for it hovers over the black light. And that white light corresponds to the light of Ruach.

The white light becomes a throne to a hidden light, and it is not seen or known that it hovers over the white light. It corresponds to the light of Neshama, and then it is a complete light. Thus, there are three lights one atop the other in a candlelight: 1) The black light that clings to the wick, below all the others; 2) the white light over the black light; and 3) the hidden, unknown light over the white light.

Similarly, a man who is complete in everything has three lights one atop the other, NRN, as with the candlelight.

The Zohar teaches us how we can develop and enhance the connections between us after we attain the first spiritual contact. If we cling to the point of union, it awakens new properties and sensations in us by expanding and revealing itself even more. When this happens, it means we’re ascending spiritual steps. Nothing else changes. We simply go deeper into the connection between us and begin to sense that all organs and elements of the system are unified, that all souls are tied into one.

Everything is aimed at one goal which is bestowal to the Upper Force. Within this aspiration we sense that we receive from Him. This begins with the sensation of the connection between souls and is called Malchut of the World of Atzilut, which is one point. Later this point is unveiled through bestowal to the Upper Force (to the Creator, Zeir Anpin). However, without bestowal it remains just a point.

We have to reach this very first contact by connecting together in one black point (Malchut) and start to bestow to the Creator from there. Then Malchut receives the property of bestowal from the Creator and nine Sefirot are unveiled within it. The Creator (the spiritual reality) can be sensed only to the degree that we bestow to Him.

The revelation of Malchut (the system of our souls) to Zeir Anpin (the Creator) is all that The Zohar tells us about. The Zohar teaches us how to develop connections by adding new, emerging forces to the very first spiritual point called Abraham. This is how a person uncovers spiritual organs and reveals the forces of the Upper World within himself. Instead of dry narration, The Zohar becomes an entire world and its power is unmatched by our limited reality.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/27/10, The Zohar

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Help Me Understand What I Want

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What discernment should I demand from the group?

Answer: I must discern what bestowal is since I don’t have any idea about it yet and it is hidden within my connection with the friends. We must make efforts together to find bestowal between us. It isn’t somewhere out there in the clouds, but right here on earth (Aretz), in our desire (Ratzon).

We must turn this land or desire into “the land of Israel” (Eretz Isra-El, Yashar-Kel) so the desire revealed in our connection will be so correct, strong, and discerned that in it we will reveal the first “holy name,” the first revelation of the Creator. This should be our aspiration.

These discernments have to be made collectively and collaboratively, not individually. This type of discernment is made by the group depending on how much everyone desires to see it happen. Out of all these desires we build one universal, powerful desire to identify what is bestowal, which we wish to attain, and in what form it should be revealed. This happens inside the connection between us. The only question left is: How willing are we to unite as one man with one heart to reach this goal, to attain this desire?

All of our work is in order to form the inner need to receive the Torah, assistance from Above, the Light that Reforms. This is what the people received at Mount Sinai – the capacity to use the Upper Light’s assistance. As a result they experienced various obstacles and transgressions, the revelation of evil which is the vessel for revealing the names of the Creator.

Broken desires that need correction are constantly revealed in us, and inside them we reveal the holy name of the Creator, the quality of bestowal. Until we reveal this quality, however, we reveal its opposite, the egoistic quality of reception. In other words, we have to go from hatred to unity and oneness.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 08/11/10, “You Should Always Discern Between Torah and Work”

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Everyone Has A Soul

Dr. Michael LaitmanIf a person studies Kabbalah only in order to obtain knowledge, without the desire to correct himself, then it will be of no use because the purpose of studying is to draw the Light that Reforms. This is why Kabbalists hid their texts in previous centuries. At that time mankind did not feel the need for the Light of Correction so there was no reason to give people a Kabbalah book. They would see nothing but dead letters or empty cells in it. That is why Kabbalah was banned. If a person doesn’t have the correct desire, Kabbalah will do him no good. In fact, it will only harm him since he will be studying it mechanically and will remain in the same material dimension he has always known.

If so, why  then do we disseminate Kabbalah among the masses, including those who don’t yet have a spiritual desire, the “point in the heart”? The truth is, one’s desire includes all dimensions. The collective spiritual vessel includes all souls, all people, even those whose Reshimot for spiritual correction haven’t surfaced yet. The difference is that they can’t start the correction right away because they still don’t feel the need to attain a spiritual goal.

Nevertheless, everyone has a soul! All people are integral parts of Malchut of the World of Infinity. We are able to attach all of these souls to ourselves and thereby include them in our circle. Thus we will project upon them the Surrounding Light that we draw.

The Surrounding Light may not impact them as strongly as it does us. It influences our spiritual Reshimo directly, but their spiritual Reshimo hasn’t been revealed yet and therefore the Light influences it indirectly. Nevertheless, it draws them toward correction and integrates them in our collective spiritual organism.

Therefore, the work we are doing is not in vain. Baal HaSulam wrote that the dissemination of the science of Kabbalah among the masses is “the call of the Messiah’s horn.”

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/11/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot

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Spiritual Stimulator

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can all of us together pave the potholes on our spiritual path in order to make it smooth if we each undergo ups and downs at different times?

Answer: This is done on purpose, in order to synchronize our spiritual states and to help each other. But if after some big event (such as a congress) we all fall together, we need some external force that will assist us.

If we created a true society, we wouldn’t fall. We would support and compensate for one another just like the organs that sustain balance in a healthy body. However, at a higher degree we find ourselves lacking balance: This is the ego growing and leading us to imbalance. So, what can we do when this occurs?

In this case, we need some external system against which we can calibrate our balance, correct, and connect ourselves again. The cause of all problems is revealed to us as the lack of connection. And now we need an external factor that will help us connect at a new, spiritual degree, above all the revealed “sinners” in us.

For this, we require a “stimulator” which is the daily questionnaire in which everybody participates. It will help us build a system where everyone will be forced to express their attitude, and in return, the system will act on them.

Where will this system obtain the power to influence us? It will come from the fact that we ourselves have built it and exerted our own effort! It serves as a relief fund.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/15/10, "Concerning the Importance of Friends"

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From Love To Hatred And Back To Love

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If the breaking of the collective soul is a natural and necessary process, why then is it called “falling into sin?”

Answer: We call any downfall “sin,” but do we really sin? In our world, it is considered a sin when I think that I can resist an act that I know is unacceptable, but still do it. But it isn’t really so because if I knew for a fact that it is prohibited, I wouldn’t do it.

Actually, sin is when I am overtaken and overpowered by the forces of separation. Sin is the state itself but not its cause. The cause always lies with the Creator. It is He who created our evil egoistic inclination.

How else can the evil inclination be created if not through “falling into sin?” First, it is necessary to ascend to the highest degree, fall from it, to receive impressions from all the degrees of ascent and our current state, and to cultivate the egoistic desire by means of the breaking of the soul. In fact, if it weren’t for the breaking, egoism would have remained at the animate level. Conversely, through the breaking, it grows to be a “creature,” “the evil inclination.”

Before the breaking, it was just a will to receive pleasure, an animal. If a lion, for instance, wants to kill a deer, we don’t consider it to be an evil inclination; a lion is simply moved by instinct, a desire to be filled.

So, when does the evil inclination appear? It appears when we ascend, receive forces of love and unity there, then fall with them and the forces turn into their opposite: unfounded hatred. Now the desire to feel pleasure, which includes all the informational data (Reshimot) that are pushing it toward this unfounded hatred, is called the evil inclination. From this moment on, it wishes to use everyone else to their detriment because that is what it enjoys.

In other words, in a human appears a sensation of another human (which animals don’t possess), and he enjoys when the other suffers. That is genuine egoism! In contrast, good is when I turn this hatred into love. Yet, a relationship with the other is necessary in both cases.

From the 3rd part of the
Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Find Life In The Connection Among Us

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do I tell the difference between imagined reality and true, spiritual reality?

Answer: There cannot be any imagined reality! We live in a solid, material world. There isn’t any spirituality here. Spirituality can only be revealed in selfless connection among us. If we elevate our unity from the still level of Nefesh to the level of Ruach, we will experience spirituality (Ruach means “spirit”).

Why do we call this degree spiritual? It’s called spiritual because it’s the first degree at which we breathe life into our connection, into our oneness. That’s when we can call it spiritual. At present, this state seems “dead” to us. I have to unite with someone? I don’t like this idea; it’s “dead” in my eyes. That’s why my present condition is called “still,” and I reside in it because I don’t have a choice and I don’t see the way out.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/27/10, The Zohar

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Kabbalists On Kabbalists, Part 8

Dr. Michael LaitmanDear Friends, please ask questions on the passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Who Is a Kabbalist?

Therefore, come and see how grateful we should be to our teachers who impart us their sacred Lights and dedicate their souls [the method of correction] to do good to [correct and fulfill] our souls. They stand in the middle [having to decide] between [two paths] the harsh torments and the path of repentance and save us from the bottom of hell [the path of suffering] that is harder than death.

They also accustom us
[via a quick and easy path of the Torah] to reach the heavenly pleasures, the sublime gentleness and the pleasantness that is our share, ready and waiting for us from the very beginning [of creation], as we have said above. Each of them operates in his own generation, according to the power of his Torah and sanctity [the Creator’s quality of love and bestowal].

They have already said, “You have not a generation without such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” [leaders who direct us to the path of the Torah over the path of suffering].
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 8

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